Flexible payment loan methods and systems

Abstract

Flexible payment loan methods and systems are provided. When approved for a flexible payment loan, a user may skip making loan payments in a set of loan skipping periods without penalty. The set of loan skipping payment periods may be predetermined and may comprise the summer months of July and August. Interest may continue to accrue in the loan skipping periods when the user skips payments. In each review period, the condition of a flexible payment loan is validated. A user may continuously skip payments only if the flexible payment loan is in good standing.

1 . A computer-implemented method of processing flexible payment loans, comprising:
 determining an applicant's eligibility for a flexible payment loan based on the applicant's personal information and information regarding the loan provided via a user computer interface;   determining a specification of a flexible payment loan based on the information provided via the user computer interface, the specification comprising an interest rate, a loan term, a loan payment period, the number of loan payments, each loan payment amount, and a set of predetermined loan skipping periods; and   providing the specification of the flexible payment loan to the applicant, wherein the applicant is allowed to skip loan payments in the set of predetermined loan skipping periods without penalty and without need for additional input from the applicant or a lender.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the flexible payment loan is an auto loan, a mortgage loan, or an education loan. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the loan payment period is a calendar month. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the applicant makes ten loan payments in each calendar year. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the applicant is allowed to skip making loan payments in the months of July and August in each calendar year. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein interest accrues in the set of predetermined loan skipping periods. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising validating the applicant's flexible payment loan in a review period. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the applicant's flexible payment loan is in good standing if it does not satisfy a set of predetermined rules. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , further comprising suspending the flexible payments if the applicant's flexible payment loan is not in good standing. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the review period is determined based on the timing of one of the set of predetermined loan skipping periods. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable program code embodied thereon, the computer executable program code configured to cause a computing device to:
 determine an applicant's eligibility for a flexible payment loan based on the applicant's personal information and information regarding the loan provided via a user computer interface;   determine a specification of a flexible payment loan based on the information provided via the user computer interface, the specification comprising an interest rate, a loan term, a loan payment period, the number of loan payments, each loan payment amount, and a set of predetermined loan skipping periods; and   provide the specification of the flexible payment loan to the applicant, wherein the applicant is allowed to skip loan payments in the set of predetermined loan skipping periods without penalty and without need for additional input from the applicant or a lender.   
     
     
         12 . The computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the flexible payment loan is an auto loan, a mortgage loan, or an education loan. 
     
     
         13 . The computer readable medium of claim,  11 , wherein the loan payment period is a calendar month. 
     
     
         14 . The computer readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the applicant makes ten loan payments in each calendar year. 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the applicant is allowed to skip making loan payments in the months of July and August in each calendar year. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein interest accrues in the set of predetermined loan skipping periods. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the computer executable program code is further configured to cause the computing device to validate the applicant's flexible payment loan in a review period. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the applicant's flexible payment loan is in good standing if it does not satisfy a set of predetermined rules. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the computer executable program code is further configured to cause the computing device to suspend the flexible payments if the applicant's flexible payment loan is not in good standing. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the review period is determined based on the timing of one of the set of predetermined loan skipping periods. 
     
     
         21 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the information regarding the loan provided via a user computer interface includes a user chosen set of loan skipping periods. 
     
     
         22 . The computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the information regarding the loan provided via a user computer interface includes a user chosen set of loan skipping periods.